One Rainy Night
by Xire
Summary: It was a rainy night when the professor found them, six unfortunate souls that were lost in the rain, with one of them injured. Since he couldn't stand leaving them in that state, he decided to take them in. Little did he know just how special these kids were, the A.I. that would later become known as Vocaloid.
1. The Professor

Welcome to my first vocaloid story! If anyone is wondering, yes this is my headannon for the Vocaloids. I have more chapters written, but I've decide to space them out a little. Also, much thanks to my minion for helping me come up with the story title :)

I hope you enjoy :)

* * *

It was a dark and stormy night and Issac had been hurrying as best he could on his way home, hunched as far as he could into his coat, trying to seek some sort of shelter from the torrential rains. He didn't know if it was because of his hobby as a computer scientist or just the fact that he had always been overly observant, but out of the corner of his eye he saw a blue tinted spark.

Pausing in his curiosity, he turned to look in the direction it had come from, which turned out to be one of the several alley ways that littered the city. At first through the dark he wasn't able to make anything out, but a second spark gave him just enough of a clue as to where to look that he finally was able to make out silouettes. He couldn't tell much at first, but he was sure of one thing at least: there were six people huddled in the wet and cold.

It took a moment more (and another spark) for his eyes to adjust and make more out of the group that was before him in the alley. There were four girls and two boys, which strangely enough he realized that the sparking came from the boy that almost look to have blue hair. But perhaps that was just a trick of the light (or lack there of). Regardless he was the most shocking as the sparking seemed to be coming from his shoulder of all places.

"Hey," He called out to them, genuinely concerned, "what are you doing out here? Surely you must have some place better to be then here." They were surprised he could tell, since they all became more stiff and moved to protect the one that he wasn't sure was injured or not. This possibly injured soul was also the one that was the most huddled of them all, as if trying to protect his shoulder somehow. He sighed, a bit sad at whatever might have made them act this way. "It's alright, I don't mean to hurt you."

It wasn't until after what felt like eternity that one of the girls finally began to slowly step forward, to which the other male (the one not huddled on the ground) he distinctly heard call out "Miku, what do you think you are doing?!" She (Miku was her name he supposed) only waved him off and continued to approach him. Once she was close enough he was surprised yet again; this Miku almost seemed to have a greenish tint to her hair. Then again, that just could be the poor lighting from a dying street lamp and the fact that she was covered in dirt and grime.

The Miku girl circled him once, twice, each time going around rather slowly, as if sizing him up. Which quite frankly was not something he was used to. He mostly kept to himself, unless he was teaching his class, that is. After a third rotation she stopped in front of him and stared at his face, making him even more uncomfortable then before. He was about to ask what was the point of all this, when she finally spoke. "He's safe." He wasn't really sure what she meant by that, perhaps it meant that she believed him? He certainly hoped so. He'd feel like the worst person on earth if he just left them in this weather.

"Are you sure?" One of the other girls asked, although he wasn't sure which. The Miku girl turned around and nodded at them.

"Yes. At the least I believe he should be able to help Kaito." Kaito? Ah, that must be the injured boy. Miku turned back to him and grabbed his hand. "Would you please? I think he might shutdown for good this time if you don't."

While he wasn't entirely sure what she meant since people didn't shutdown, but perhaps Japanese wasn't her first language and she meant this Kaito would die? Either way he couldn't leave them here in the cold. He nodded. "Alright, I should be able to take care of him at my place. Follow me." He waited until two of the others had hoisted up the boy they called Kaito, who barely seemed concious enough to even move a little bit, while his right side remained entirely immobile.

...

It was a little bit of walk to his house, but with renewed purpose he (along with the six kids) made it to his residence in much shorter time then he had managed before, but then he had never tried when he so felt that someone's life depended on it.

"Go ahead and set him on the chair there so that I can get a good look at the injury." He was no doctor that was sure, but that didn't mean that he didn't understand the basics. Since he lived alone, he had figurd out long ago that knowing some first aid would be useful. If the wound seemed too serious however, he would bandage it and take the boy to the hospital.

As soon as Kaito had been deposited in the aformentioned chair he looked to the others. "There is a large bathroom on the second floor, first door on the right. I'd recommend trying to get yourselves dried off while I take care of your friend." He gave them a smile that was meant to reasure the kids that everything would be fine even when you weren't sure of it yourself. He'd always hated that as a kid, and found himself ironic that here he was using it.

There was some protest from a few of the others before Miku managed to get them all to leave, leaving him to take care of the boy called Kaito. He first grabbed some towels, heavy banadges and some anticeptic before heading back to the boy, whose condition only seemed to be worsening.

Once he had all of his supplies in order he bent down to inspect the wound, and was more than a little surprised at what he saw, although it did make the sparking make a lot more sense. ..This was going to take alot more then just some anticeptic. He wasn't trying to save a human life, but an artificial intelligence.

After this reaization he scambled into action, heading to his own little personal lab. Somehow Kaito must of damaged his shoulder, exposing the wires and tubes that were hidden beneath. He imagined that the damage had been superficial in the beginning, but with the addition of rain had only made it worse. What he wondered, though, was who was the creator and most of all, why were they out in that alley?

He sighed as he sat back down, pushing up his sleeves. He wasn't sure how well this was going to go since anything electric and water didn't mix, but he would certainly give it his best shot. Even more so because this Kaito and his companions (which he had a sneaking suspicion were A.I. as well) seemed like they could be the real deal, actual artificially created humans, an idea that had facinated him since childhood.

Before beginning he leaned forward and placed a hand on the still boy's cheek. "If you can hear me, please try and stay awake the best you can. Everything is going to be fine, I'm going to take good care of you." He was worried at first when he didn't recieve any sort of indication that he was heard, but slowly the boy's eyes opened just enough to reveal the brightest blue he'd ever seen. "That's a good boy. Don't worry, I'll have you better in no time." After that he began to get to work.

He didn't know how long it took him, or how late it had gotten when he was finally finished. The whole time all he could think of was saving precious life. As he worked he did manage to discover that not too much of the water had managed to make it's way into Kaito's center core, which he could only discribe what looked to be some sort of hard drive, where the heart of this boy lived. After this discovery, came the attempt at removing the water that had gotten in and then attempting to repair the damage. He did his best, and when it came to the point where he'd done everything he could, the only thing left was to hope for the best.

He didn't know what time it was when he felt someone shaking his shoulder. Looking up a bit blearily from having been up so late with so little sleep, he saw the green haired girl standing above him. Miku was her name, from what he recalled. "Ah, good morning. I'm sorry I didn't pay much attention to the rest of you last night. Did you find everything you needed alright?"

The girl nodded and gave him a light smile. "Yes, thank you. You've already showed us more kindness then anyone else has before." She looked over at Kaito, who was motionless and connected to a few wires, with his central panel (located on his chest) open. "Is he going to be alright?" She asked, frowning as she watched the still form.

He got up from the couch (that he didn't rememeber falling asleep on), located across from Kaito's chair and moved over to the computer that was set up nearby. After looking at the readings and checking the cords that ran from the computer to Kaito, he finally gave her his answer. "Well, he seems to have made it though the night, so I believe that the worst has past, according to these readings. With any luck he should wake up witin the next day or so."

Miku nodded, although he noted that she did look happier than before. "That's good to hear. What are these cords for?"

"It's a power source. I was afraid that if I didn't allow for a constant flow of energy his own internal power source wouldn't be able to handle the stress or the added drain from the damage he sustained. Right now he's just in a state of hibernation, I believe, to conserve energy." He answered, sitting back on the couch heavily. "I did the best I could under the circumstances, but I'm afraid it's really just a patch job." He sighed and pulled off his glasses which he must have been too tired to remove last night. "I'll have to wait until I undertand the structure better to see if I can fix his shoulder completly or not."

"That's alright, you've already done plenty, just by saving him from a permenent shut down. Thank you so much."

"It was nothing, really. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I let a living person die and didn't do anything to try to save them." He paused for a moment before asking his own question. "Am I right in assuming that you are all the same as him?"

Miku paused a moment from her inspecting of the work that he'd done on Kaito in order to face him. "Yes, we are. Please say that you won't turn us in."

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair while he finally took a moment to let everything that had happen over the course of the past several hours to sink in. Somebody had created them for a reason, but then it was obvious that they had run away from their creator for a good reason judging from the pleading look on Miku's face. Where ever it was that they came from he already didn't think it was a good place.

He put his hand down before answering. "Well I can't very well in good concious let a bunch of kid wander around town with no one to look after them." He stood up and went up to Miku, placing a light hand on her shoulder and gave her a light smile. "I've never had children before, so I might not be the best at it, but if you'll have me you can stay here as long as you all like."

"Of course!" Miku caught him completely off gaurd by giving him the biggest hug( the first in a very long time) that he'd ever had the pleasure of receiving.

"This will certainly be interesting. Now why don't we go find the others? I have yet to learn everyone's names. From what I've gathered, you're Miku and he's Kaito, correct?" He asked after parting. It would've been terribly embarassing to have been using the wrong names.

"That's right. The others are actually still asleep, since it took awhile to convince them that you could be trusted." She said it so easilly with a smile.

"That is a good point though, how did you know that you could trust me, a complete stranger? For all you know I could've done something terrible."

"I could just tell after I scanned you last night. You didn't have any ill intent and were genuinely worried. It's a specialty of mine." Well that certainly explained what the circling had been all about...

"Alright then why don't we make some breakfast while we wait for everyone to wake up, shall we? Or..."He trailed off as he realized that he had already forgotten what these kids really were and maybe the fact that they didn't actually need food. "Do you you actually not need food?"

Miku laughed a bit at his reaction. "We do, it's our primary source of energy. I've always wanted to learn to cook."

"Alright then, breakfast it is. Come and I'll show you."

Breakfast had gone pretty well, he'd thought. He'd formally met the rest of the group, which certainly seemed like an interesting bunch. Along with the green haired Miku, there was the blonde Len and Rin to which if he didn't know better he'd say were twins, the pink haired Luka, and the brown haired Meiko. They still looked like a bunch of kids who'd come off the street with their ragged clothes and hair. Even so, it was nice to sit at a noisy, crowded table for once. He couldn't help but smile as he watched them bicker and talk amongst themselves. Yes, this was definitly a good idea, he decided. He'd been alone so long that he hadn't realized just how lonely he'd been until he actually had people join him.

When everyone seemed to be just about done eating, he figured that it would be a good idea to pose his next question to them. "What do you say to when Kaito wakes up we all go shopping for some clothes for you?"

"Really? That'd be great! I've always wondered what that would be like!" Miku exclaimed. He was slowly learning that out of all of them, Miku seemed to be the most excitable. The others chimed their interest in as well, although it wasn't as near enthusiastic as Miku's had been.

It took almost a week with his constant monitoring and some slight modifications here and there for Kaito to finally regain conciousness. This was a good thing for sure, as he had begun to worry that perhaps the boy had fallen into a state similar to a coma, which would've lead to not knowing if he'd ever wake up. But as fortune would have it, on a warm sunny morning Kaito finally opened his eyes once more.

* * *

"So that's how we got to your place? I've always wondered about that." Kaito remarked when the Proffesor's story had reached the part where he woke up. Two years later after that rainy night, the seven of them were gathered in the Professor's office as he recounted the tale of how he met them.

"You mean you didn't know? I thought you were at least awake for that part." Len remarked.

"Well, even if I was, I really don't remember much. Shortly after it started raining the memory of the events afterwords have become corrupted. I can really only get small things from it." Kaito answered, rubbing the back of his head a bit sheepishly.

"Interesting. What exactly do you remember?" The professor asked, resuming his work on the boy's shoulder, which even after a few years, he still hasn't managed a perminent fix. He has learned much since that rainy night, and has since wondered if it is solely a lack of materials that prevents a full repair. Until then, he simply has to do minor maintanance once in awhile, unless Kaito does something to strain it (which is exactly why they were here now...).

"I mostly just remember it being really dark, but I do know for certain that I heard your voice call out to me, Professor. You told me that everything would be alright, and I believed you."

The Professor smiled. "That's good, I'm glad someone believed in me, since I was afraid I would lose you in the end to either shut down or hibernation that you'd never wake up from. Even after my attempt at repairs were done, I was still worried that you wouldn't have enough energy left and would shut down regardless." He made a few more tweeks to the boy's shoulder. "There, how does that feel?" He asked, sitting back in his chair.

Kaito stretched the limb before rolling it a few times. "Much better, thank you, professor."

"That's good." The professor glanced at the clock before turning back to the group. "You kids better get to your next class soon. Issabelle won't be happy if you're late." Issabelle was the theater arts teacher, and to some seemed almost overly into the part.

They did as the professor said, heading off to class, and Kaito found himself thinking about how far they'd come since that rainy day. He was glad that the professor had found them, not just because he saved Kaito's life, but also because they were far better off then they would've been trying to find their way about the world by their inexperiensed selves. If they hadn't been found, he wasn't sure what would've happened. For all he knew, they might've been found by their creator and dragged back to the lab.

"And what are you so happy about, pretty boy?" Meiko's voice broke in through Kaito's thoughts from next to him.

"Hmm, oh nothing much. I'm just happy that we met the professor." Kaito answered with a smile.

"Hmph, silly pretty boy."

* * *

Xire


	2. Not A Failure

I'm going to say this now before anyone points it out, yes I have read the wiki for both Kaito and Meiko. I will admit that I have taken some creative license here, with certain events, which I'm sure you'll see what I mean when you read it. Certainly thing such as Meiko being more popular in the beginning and Kaito being denounced a failure at first still happen, just a bit differently.

With that said, please enjoy.

* * *

Kaito sat by himself, eating ice cream on the front porch of the Professor's place. He sighed, leaning against the house. He had left class early that day, because he just couldn't bring himself to keep lying that he was actually good at singing. Meiko was always getting swarmed by the other students whenever class was over, always talking about how great she sounded, while Kaito would just hang in the back, mostly ignored by the others of the class.

So he would mostly hung at the back of the class, watching and listening when he didn't have to participate. The professor said that he sounded good from what little he had heard at home, and so did the others in his little family, but he wasn't sure he believed them. After all, weren't they supposed to say that? It wasn't like anyone else that he didn't live with had told him that he sounded good like did with Meiko.

Maybe he was just nervous, because he wasn't really sure how to interact with actual humans, or perhaps it was because he just wasn't cut out for music. Perhaps he should take up something else...

"Ah, there you are, pretty boy."

Kaito looked up from from his bowl of ice cream (which was rather large by any other person's standards), to see Meiko approaching, holding her school bag behind her head. "Ah, Hi, Meiko. Did you enjoy class today?" So far out of the six of them, it was only Kaito and Meiko that went to any classes, and that was the one the Professor taught. The Professor had said that they could go to as many as they wanted, but perhaps for starters they should start with one just to see what they thought of it.

"It was fine, but that's besides the point." Meiko stated as she sat down next to him on the porch. "You," she punched him in the shoulder, "left early today. What's that all about?"

Kaito rubbed his shoulder from where she had hit it, but didn't answer. He wasn't really sure what to say, and even if he did think of something it probably would still end with him getting punched again. He stared down a bit forlornly at his ice cream before taking another bite. Or he would've, had Meiko not reached over and stolen the sugary substance. "H-Hey, Meiko, that's mine!" He frowned. "You could get your own, you know." He grumbled.

"Nope! Not until you tell me why you left." She turned so that her back was to him, and leaned against his shoulder. "Mmmm, this is good. You sure know how to pick out the good flavors." She stated calmly after taking a bite, practically taunting him with it.

Kaito frowned, trying to reach over and reclaim his lost treat. "C'mon, that's not funny."

"Nope!" She took another bite, easily fending him off. "Tell me."

Kaito sat back against the wall, defeated. "C'mon Meiko, I already feel bad enough. The least you could do is let me have the one thing I can do right."

"Huh? What are you talking about?"Meiko glanced over at Kaito, confused.

Kaito sighed and closed his eyes. "I'm...thinking about dropping out of the class. We both know that I'm not very good."

"What!?" Meiko exclaimed, whipping around and nearly droping the bowl of ice cream. "Kaito, what are you talking about? You were singing before we ever escaped."

Kaito glanced over at her. "It wasn't very good, I'm sure. It is okay for you to agree, you know."

Meiko frowned and punched the boy in the shoulder again, harder this time. "You're an idiot." She muttered.

"Ow! How am I an idiot?" Kaito muttered, rubbing his arm even more.

"You just need more cofidence in yourself. I've heard you sing, and you are good. Especially that song you used to sing when it was a hard day and we couldn't sleep."

"That was just...just something I did since I didn't know what else to do. I didn't think it was actually any good."

It was Meiko's turn to sigh. "Where did you get such self confidence issues, anyways? I never would've thought."

Kaito looked away from her. "I...I suppose it's more of the fact that you just seem better at talking to other people. I don't know how to approach anyone that isn't the Professor or one of the others of our group. It's not like anyone really tries to talk to me much, either. I'm just..." He trailed off, not able to finish his sentence. In reality, the more he thought about the fact that this little venture of theirs could end up (at least for him) in complete failure, the more he became sad. The more he became sad, the more he could feel a strange warmth buiding up behind his eyes. He didn't say anything more to Meiko, just continued to look away from her and at the sky.

"Kaito..." Meiko whispered, seeing the sadness that was etched on Kaito's face, unsure if he realized he was showing it or not. She watched him for a few minutes, trying to figure out what he was going to say. He looked so sad, and deep inside it pained her, she didn't like seeing him in such a state. She leaned against him again, and hugged his arm, thinking about all the time that they had spent in school.

Meiko had certainly enjoyed it so far, even if she hadn't entirely liked all the attention she recieved from everyone, especially the guys. She didn't admit it, but even she wasn't sure how to talk with people, and yet she found it happening alot since almost everytime she tried to leave class at least one person would stop to talk to her. That part, being reconized for her abilities and having people like her, that part she liked. That, she almost looked forward to, being praised. But what about Kaito...?

She had never thought about it before, but now that she did, she realized that not many people really ever did approach him. He had a good voice she knew, she had heard it multiple times in that place where they had been created. In class Kaito had offered his voice a few times, but usually only when paired with someone.

Meiko looked up at Kaito, a frown on her face. She hadn't seen him try to talk to anyone very actively either..."Are you really that afraid to fail?"

Kaito didn't answer her at first, but he finally looked at her. "...I think I already have, is the problem." He said quietly.

"You shouldn't say things like that. You'll just have to try a little harder. Maybe if more of the others decide to join you'll be more comfortable, and try to get out there more." Meiko suggested.

"You think so? Maybe, I guess."

"I know so." Meiko said with a nod. She let go of his arm and shoved the bowl of ice cream at him. "Now stop moping and eat your ice cream, pretty boy."

A few months passed since that day on the porch, and Meiko noticed that things didn't seem to be getting any better for Kaito, even after Miku joined. In fact, she almost thought that things started getting worse. When Miku joined the class, she was well recived, especially by the boys in the class (granted they did outnumber the girls in the class). With her frilly dresses and cute looks, Miku won the attention of nearly everyone, especially since she seemed more 'approachable' then Meiko. Miku was cute and innocent, while Meiko was rough and a little violent.

Meiko sighed one day during lunch as she watched Kaito eat his ice cream, with that same sad look he'd had those few months ago on the porch. Another thing that had changed since Miku joined was Meiko's own popularity, with no where near as many people coming to talk to her as there used to be. It didn't bother her too much though, since the boys could be annoying and it always seemed to make Kaito unhappy. Meiko knew she was good, and that was all she needed. Well that and for Kaito to realize his own potential. "Are you still thinking about quiting?" She asked quietly after a few minutes.

Kaito paused in his consumption of the ice cream, but still didn't answer her for a moment. "I did speak to The Professor about it the other night. He didn't seem very happy about it, but said that if that's what I really want, it would be alright." He said quietly, putting his spoon down. "I just don't think that it's for me. I'm still pretty sure that I fail at it."

Meiko frowned and got right up in his face, annoyed. "Keep talking like and I'll steal your ice cream again." She threatened before sitting back in her seat.

"Eh? C'mon Meiko, I don't see what's so bad about it." Kaito muttered, pulling his ice cream closer to him as if to protect it.

Meiko groaned and put a hand to her forehead. "You're an idiot. It's really annoying how you can't see how great you are, how great you sound."

"I think you're the only one that sees it that way. Mei."

"Am not. The others think that way too, I'm sure. We've all heard what you can do before, back in that place, like I've told you before." Meiko sighed, trying to think of a way to keep the boy from quitting. It was after watching him eat his ice cream silently for a few more minutes that she an idea. "Hey Kaito,"

"Hmm?" Kaito acknowledged her through a mouthful of ice cream.

"Wanna make a bet?" That always got his attention. It had been their favorite past time since the beginning.

"What kind?" He asked, spoon still in his mouth.

Meiko thought for a moment, making sure in her mind that her plan would work, following the map of the school she had downloaded. From where they were sitting, she should be able to make a run for it, and make it out before Kaito caught on what she was doing."The kind where if I win, you have to stick it in class for another few months." She said with a grin. "If I lose, I'll stop pestering you on the subject and let you do what you want."

"Sounds fair." Kaito agreed with a nod, although silently wishing he had gotten more ice cream. Ah well, he'd just have to be content licking the spoon for now. "But that's just what comes after the results. What exactly are you betting?"

Meiko grinned. Great, he fell for it. "Wither or not you can catch me before I leave the building!" She exclaimed before running off.

"Hey, Meiko wait! That's not fair!" Meiko heard Kaito call after her, but she wasn't about to stop.

"Not a chance, pretty boy!" Meiko yelled back. She would win this and make him realize certain aspects about himself, like he had done for her in the begining. She had her route to the exit all planned out, and with her head start, she was sure that she would win and be able to put the rest of her plan into action.

Meiko had made it downstairs and was fast approaching the hallway that would lead to the exit, her confidence growing. She glanced behind her to see how far Kaito was behind, and grinned when she didn't see him. Great, she must've left him in the dust.

"Meiko!"

She hear her name called as she looked forward, just in time to see Kaito come from above and land practically right in front of her. "Crap!" Meiko yelled as she tried to avoid him, but her high speed made it a bit difficult and she ended up stumbling and just barely avoid getting grabbed by him. This unfortunate turn of events forced her to change her course, since Kaito was now blocking the hall she needed to go down. "Stupid Kaito!" She yelled as she started down a different path, grumbling to herself as she realized that she had neglected the fact that Kaito had just about as much ingenuity as she did.

He must've taken the alternitive path, the one that while it wouldn't lead to the outside, it did pass along and above the hallway that did lead to the exit. Kaito must've gotten to the overpass and jumped over the railing to land in front of her, in order to catch her. It really was a good try, she had to admit, a fact that annoyed her. It seemed like this wouldn't be such an easy victory after all. No matter, she was still determined to win. It was for his own good, after all.

It went on like this for at least a half hour, at which point Meiko started getting frustrated. Up ahead she saw the Professor, looking a bit confused. "Meiko!" He called as she approached. "What are you running from?"

"KAITO, THE BIG JERK!" Meiko yelled as she ran past The Professor, loud enough that she hoped said pretty boy would hear.

"It was your idea in the first place! So don't get mad when you're losing!" Meiko heard Kaito call from behind her, and then shortly after she heard, "Sorry Professor, no time to talk!"

Meiko groaned. The longer this went on, the more he was gaining on her, and as much as she hated to admit it, she did feel like she was starting to lose, since he had already almost caught her twice. She found herself glad that she didn't have to worry about things like running out of breath in times like these. She wasn't about to give just yet though, as she had one last idea of how she could escape: the emergency exit. Sure she would set off the alarms, but this WAS an emergency.

There was only one path to the emergency exit, so there was no way Kaito would be able to cut her off this time. After jumping over the rail of the stairs that would lead to her new destination, she heard Kaito call after her.

"Meiko, you wouldn't! You can get in trouble for that one! Isn't this taking things a little to far?"

"There's no such thing in this matter!" Meiko called back, landing on the ground, with the emergency exit in sight. Perfect, there was no way she was losing now, she thought as she began running again.

Kaito was left standing at the top of the stairs, staring down at the bottom of the stairs where Meiko had landed at the bottom. He had downloaded the same map of the school that she had, he knew where this path would lead. He also knew that if someone tripped the alarm when there wasn't any real emergency, it could lead to getting in some serious trouble.

Was she really that determined for him to give the class another try? He frowned as he leaned against the railing, watching her run towards the emergency exit. What had she meant, that there's no such thing as going too far with this matter? He was starting to wonder if to Meiko, this was more then just a bet. She at least, seemed to think that he had potential.

As he watched her push open the door and heard the alarm go off, Kaito decided that perhaps losing this round wouldn't be so bad. If Meiko was there, he'd keep going for a few months longer. As students began to crown around, wondering what going on and almost in a panic, he still stood there watching her. She seemed so happy that she had won, dispite what tripping the alarm meant.

"Kaito! What happened here?" Kaito turned to look to see the Professor standing next to him.

"She won." Kaito answered after a moment. "I guess I'll be staying in your class for a bit longer, Professor."

Meiko did get in trouble for what she had done, but got off pretty easily since it was her first offense. In the next month, not much changed for Kaito, but it at least became more bareable. After the few months that he had agreed upon with Meiko to continue in the class, he still intened to leave. He still believed that perhaps he wasn't suited for singing. He'd just have to find something else that he was good at. The theater class sounded interesting, perhaps he'd try that next.

Once day, however, when Kaito was sitting on the porch eating ice cream he sang a silly little song to himself about how there was prince one time who couldn't eat ice cream but Kaito himself could eat it so he would, and went on to describe how it was cold and sweet. He thought he had been alone, but little did he know, however, that Meiko had been hiding just inside listening and had decided to record the whole thing and put the short song up on the school web site for all the class to hear.

It was the very next day that multiple students came up to Kaito to talk about his ice cream song that by this point at least the whole class along with half the school had heard of. He was surprised of course, but it didn't take him long to wonder if Meiko had done something.

Meiko on the other hand had just shrugged when he had asked her about it. "Well I didn't see why not. It seemed like such a fun song I couldn't just not share it with people. Look at it this way, at least everyone knows what I do."

"What would that be?"

"That you sing, of course. Maybe now you'll start to believe me."

Kaito sighed. "But Meiko, don't you realize how embaressing it is to have something like that up for everyone to sing? I wasn't even being serious when I sang that."

"I thought as much. But there's no going back now." Meiko grinned. "The damage has already been done."

Meiko was right in the fact that now it was almost imposible for Kaito to sit in the back quitetly and watch as he had been doing in the past as there was more just the others that isnsisted he sit with them, it was now most of the class. Even if Kaito tried to sit in the back, he'd find others coming to sit with him, besides that of his family. More people insisted that they wanted to hear him sing as well. It took a little bit of time, but Kaito finally decided that perhaps he did have a little bit of talent after all and that maybe just maybe, he wasn't as much of the failure he had believed himself to be.


	3. Module: Holiday

So, this is basically my thoughts about how the Holiday module comes about. I'll admit this was a bit fun to write.

Please Enjoy :)

* * *

Kaito and Meiko had an interesting relationship, The Professoror decided. They always seemed to be up to something, either being in the middle of a bet, or the results of one of them losing a bet. Or there was the random occasions where they actually weren't trying to do something to the other. There were times where he'd find them just sitting there, just talking and laughing. There were sometimes even, where he'd find them on the couch, both asleep, leaning on the other.

Today he could only guess was one of those days. When he had asked where the two went, Miku had told him that Len had seen Meiko dragging Kaito off towards her room by his scarf and that Meiko had asked to pass along the message that they'd be late for class. Isaac's only guess was that the poor boy had lost their most recent bet. Now usually he didn't have much of an idea what it was about, but this time he was pretty sure he did. It didn't take him very long, either to figure it out. Kaito loved ice cream, so much that Isaac was sure that the boy couldn't get enough of the sugary substance. About a week ago he had noticed that Kaito had started resisting eating it, and Meiko who usually always gave him a hard time, stopped. It didn't take him long to figure out that they must have bet each other that they could stop. How long that would go however, he hadn't been sure.

From the fact that Meiko had been the one to do the dragging, Isaac could only surmise that Kaito had caved to his biggest weakness. Poor boy, he could only wonder what the girl was putting him through at this moment.

(A few hours earlier, at Isaac's house)

"What's this?" Kaito asked, looking questing at the box that Meiko had placed in his hands.

"It's hair dye." Meiko answered with a mischievous grin. "We did agree that if I won I would get to do whatever I want with your pretty boy looks." Her grin only got wider.

Kaito frowned, turning the box over to read through the instructions. "'Washes in? This is going to take awhile, you realize. Won't this make us late for class?"

"Oh don't worry, I told Len to make sure that the Professor got the message that we'd be late." She turned him around and started pushing him toward the bathroom. "Now go start washing that in."

Kaito sighed before obliging. "Alright, alright. Is that the only thing you have planned?"

"Of course not! I finally get a chance to mess with your pretty boy looks and I'm going to milk it for all it's worth." She stated with that same evil grin.

Kaito sighed again, worried about that look of hers before making his way to the bathroom. Once inside he took a closer look at the box of hair color, curious to see what color Meiko was expecting him to come out with, and a little worried it might be something completely outrageous. He was pleasently surprised, however, when he discovered that it simply looked like a really dark purpleish blue.

The first step however, was getting ready for the shower in the first place, which was always a process. When it came to anything that would involve getting wet, he always had to make sure that his bad shoulder was sufficiantly protected. The Professor always was hounding him about making sure he took care to not cause any damage.

After taking off his scarf and top, he inspected his shoulder. It was still like the Professor had treated it those few years ago, not fully together, but not apart either. He didn't have real skin, so it wouldn't grow back together. The solution the Professor had come up with was to sew it together as best he could. It didn't make for a perfect seem, but it was funtional so long as Kaito didn't do anything to strain the equally never fully repaired wires inside or pull/break the cord it was stitched with. It was a pretty good fix, but if anyone were to see his shoulder it would be obvious that the wound didn't seem entirely natural. It was one of the reasons he preferred shirts with longer sleeves, so that no one would see it.

He opened one of the drawers that was beneth the sink, pulling out a roll of what could only be descibed as a clear bandage that was entirely waterproof. It was what the Professor had given him in the beginning to protect his shoulder from any water getting inside. The Professor hadn't had to repeat the warning more then once, as Kaito was by no means in any hurry to repeat his water damaged experience from two years ago, when they had first come here. It was shortly after he began wrapping his shoulder (something that took time as he hed to make sure that it was fully covered with no gaps) that he heard a knock on the door.

"Did you forget something?" Kaito called through the door, continuing to wrap his shoulder. Everyone else had gone to school, so it had to Meiko at the door. The only question was what else did she have in mind for him from losing their most recent bet?

"I forgot to give you the clothes that I want you to wear." As he had thought, it was Meiko that had answered him.

"Clothes?" He asked as he opened the door. "What else could you have in mind?" While in one aspect he was worried what else she had planned, he was also finding himself somewhat amused. She didn't answer him at first, instead he caught her eyes drifting towards his right shoulder, and an almost sad look passed across her face. "Meiko...?"

"Ah, here." Meiko shoved a small pile of clothes at him. "Make sure you come out wearing those!" After that she left him standing there, a bit stunned, without another word.

Kaito stood there for a few minutes more, completly confused about what that had been about. Did she feel bad about the damage he had sustained to his shoulder when they had escaped from the building they were created in? But that was a few years ago now, and it wasn't even her fault. He had simply been a little careless during their escape. He sighed and shut the door before finishing wrapping his shoulder and getting ready to wash in the hair dye.

It was sometime later and he was drying his hair off with a towel, while finally taking a closer look at the clothes Meiko had given him. He decided that the top, consisiting of a white v-neck tank top acompanied by a light grey jacket and a black, grey, and blue plaid scarf wasn't too bad. The pants however, he wasn't entirely sure about, as they were brown pinstripes with a black belt and gold buckle to go with it. Didn't those usually go with a matching suit top? He wasn't entirely sure how well they would go with top, but he didn't have much of a choice in the matter. He had lost the bet fair and square so he had to keep up his side of the deal. So far though, he still thought it was worth it to finally be able to have the sweet, sweet ice cream.

After getting dressed and placing the towel around his neck to catch any reamaining drops of water, Kaito made his way back to Meiko's room. "Alright, I'm done." He said once entering her room. "There can't possibly be anything else, could there?"

Meiko gave him that same evil grin from before as held up a comb. "You wish. Come over here and sit down. I did say that I was going to milk this for all that it's worth, didn't I?" She motioned to the chair that sat infront of her vanity.

"Let me guess, you have something else planned for my hair besides just dying it." Kaito guessed as he sat down in the aformentioned chair.

"Naturally." Meiko began playing with his hair (which he almost had to admit that he kind've liked the feel of), inspecting the dye job. "I must say that it came out better then I expected. Although," She tugged lightly at some of the strands in the back, "it's interesting that your normal color is trying to peek out at the ends back here. Ah well, I kinda like it. Now," She spun the chair around so that Kaito was facing her, so his back was to the vanity mirror, "I don't want you to see what I have planned until it's done, so don't even think about looking at that mirror. Although before I begin, you do have purple in your list of available eye colors, right?"

"Yes...why?"

"Good, do it."

"Seriously?"

"Yes, it's to complete the effect. And everthing I've done hasn't been too bad so far, now has it?"

"I suppose you have a point." Kaito agreed, even if he wasn't sure why she wanted purple of all things. He closed hs eyes and executed the required comands to change his eye color before opening them again. "There, how's that?"

"Perfect." With that she took her comb and began to style Kaito's hair. It didn't take too long, and when she was finished she spun his chair around so that he could see the mirror. "Ta-da, it doesn't look too bad with that pretty boy face of yours."

Kaito leaned forward to get a closer look at what she had done. He supposed it wasn't too bad like she had said, but it was definitly different then his normal style. Most notably was the fact that she had made it spikier in general and had moved his part so that most his hair fell on the right side, with a few bangs in the middle still. "It certainly is interesting. Where did you get the idea, anyways?" Where as the hair on the right side still hung down the side of his face a little, the left side did not. Instead the hair there had been pushed back and moved, enough so that you could see his hairline.

Meiko shrugged. "It's just somehing I've always wondered if it would look good on you."

"How long have you been thinking about this?"

"How long were you thinking of making me wear frilly clothes?"

"Touche." Kaito began to stand up, believing that had to be everything. "Well, we better get to school, we're going to be late enough as it is." After all, what else could there possibly be?

"Not so fast, pretty boy." Meiko said with a grin, shoving him back down into the chair. "We're not done here yet."

"Meiko, what else could there possibly be?" Kaito asked incredulously, looking back at her.

"Don't worry, there's just two little details left to attend to." Meiko answered, pulling out a botle of purple nail polish from one of vanity drawers, along with two small, round blue earings. "After this we can go."

"Isn't nail polish and earings more of a girl thing though?" Kaito asked, staring at the objects a bit incredulously. "This wouldn't happen to be revenge for me making you wear one of Miku's frilier outfits when you lost last time, is it?"

"Possibly." With that grin of hers, Kaito was pretty sure that was a yes. He really should've seen something like this coming. She HAD been pretty irate when she had been stuck going to school in a frilly dress. Oh well, he still figured it was worth it. "Now it's time to suck it up and give me your hand." Meiko stated as she opened up the nail polish bottle.

After the nails were the earings, to which Kaito wasn't sure how Meiko intended for him to wear. He didn't wear earings, so he didn't have piercings. That and the fact that since their skin didn't grow, any holes that were made were likely to stay there forever. He decided to voice his concerns. "Meiko, how exactly do you plan on me wearing earings, anyway? Are they clip ons or something?" When he recieved no reply, he glanced around. "Meiko? What are you-OW!" He felt a light tug on his ear followed by a sharp, searing pain. "Ahhh..." He reached up to rub his ear, only to feel something small and round there. Looking in the mirror, he confimed his suspicion that there was, in fact, a light blue earing sitting there. "Meiko, you didn't..."

"Relax pretty boy, it'll only be a pretty small hole for an earing that size. I doubt anyone will notice." Meiko answered with a shrug, appearing in the mirror behind him.

Kaito sighed, still fingering his sore ear. He was sure the scientist that had created them must've had a sadistic streak to give them such pain receptors. "Fine, but couldn't you have given me some warning beforehand at least?"

"Nah, you would've protested too much. I figured it really was the only way to get it done in a timely mannor. Now, do I have to sneak up on you again or will you let me do the other one willingly?" She asked, holding up the piercing gun she must've used.

"I don't really think I have much of a choice, since you've aleady gone and done one. At least I'll be ready this time."

"Alright Kaito, prepare yourself for the second one." Meiko said, lightly gripping his other ear. Kaito braced himself, ready this time at least for the same pain to start in his other ear. "3...2...1..." He grit his teeth and couln't help but wince a bit when he felt the other earing go in.

"Ow...I can't believe girls do this because they actually WANT to..." Kaito muttered.

Meiko just laughed.

* * *

Xire


	4. Worries

So here's the next chapter, which actually takes place two years in the past, back when the vocaloid crew had only just been taken in by the professor aka Issac. I'll admit that this mostly centers around his thoughts on the matter, as it was interesting and I couldn't pass tryping it up. I also wrote this in about the span of an hour, as it was mostly just for fun. If you aren't really interested in Issac's side of things, feel free to skip this chapter. I mostly wrote it for my own enjoyment, because I'm really starting to like him. If you are curious, though, there is a little bit of backstory for hm here.

With that said,

Please enjoy.

* * *

"Ann, I've gone and done something crazy." Was the first thing that Issac said after Annabelle had answered the phone.

"Well, it can't be anything worse then what you've tried before." Annabelle remarked calmly.

Issac sighed. "I'm not so sure about that. You probably won't believe me either."

"Well, so long as you aren't about to tell me that you robbed a bank, I'm sure I can take it." There was silence from the other line, causing Annabelle to become a little worried. "Issac?" She prodded.

"No, but if I had at least I would've known what I'm doing. This however is a whole different story." Issac finally replied.

"Well tell me already and let's see if I agree with you."

Issac sighed again and ran a hand through his hair, looking over at the kids tht were now asleep in various spots in the living room. It had been a big day for them, he figured, what with their first shopping trip and getting to explore the outside world for the first time without having to worry. Issac had asked if they were worried about being too close to where they had been created, but Miku had responded with a no, because they were exactly 150.2 miles away from there.

Issac had been surprised at how far they had traveled, especially when he found out that it had all been done by running, in such a short period of time, since Miku had said they had only been traveling a day. Then again, he figured, not being human would give them quite a bit more stamina.

Kaito was practicality a miracle, having survived such a trip with such damage, which could only have happened during their escape, Issac figured. Apparently the real problems had only began once the rain had started, according to Miku. It was shortly after they had arrived in town that the rain had come, which put them in the alley that Issac found them at because Kaito had lost the ability to move by himself.

They had actually been discussing what they would do next when Issac had come across them, as Miku told the story. They knew that Kaito needed help in order to survive, bu they didn't know where they could possibly go to and not get turned in for what they were. It was then that Issac had showed up.

It was a good thing too, Issac decided, as if he hadn't, he was sure that Kaito would've broken down completly before too long. Even though the boy seemed fine now, Issac wouldn't be surprised if Kaito would encounter problems in the future because of the water damage that he had sustained. Issac just felt bad that he lacked the proper tools to fix the boy up completly. He could only be there and try to help with whatever problems might arise. It didn't help though that Issac didn't even know how the kids even worked, entirely. He supposed only their created knew the details.

Speaking of such person, he keep coming back to the thought that the man couldn't have been the nicest person if the kids had wanted to escape from him so badly. The man was, at the least, undeniably talented in what he had created.

"Issac, are you still there?" Annabelle's voice brought Issac out of his thoughts and back to reality.

"Yes, sorry about that Ann. I was just lost in my thoughts, is all." He finally replied.

"That's a dangerous thing for you, you know. I have lost you for days in there before."

"Haha, very funny."

"I like to think so. Now, are you going to tell me what this crazy thing you've done is yet?"

Issac took another glance at the sleeping kids before take a deep breath to calm to himself. "I've...welll, you see...I've actually taken in some kids that I found on the street." There was silence from her this time, making him worry if she had heard him. Right as he was about to ask, however, laughter erupted from the other end of the line. "A-Ann! What's so funny?" He asked, a bit surprised by her reaction.

It took a few moments, but Annabelle finally reponded through her laughter. "I-it's you! I never expected you to say something like that!"

"I-I don't see how it's funny." Issac managed out.

"Amusement aside, where ever did you get the idea to take in some kids from the street?" Annabelle asked once she had calmed down a bit more.

"It was raining, Ann, and the didn't have anywhere else to go, I could tell. They practically wearing nothing but rags. I coudn't just leave them there." He explained briefly. Even if it was his sister, he wouldn't feel good about divulging the secret as to what the kids really were without them giving the go ahead.

"And you're sure they don't have any family?"

"I am. I've..decided to keep them, Ann, and I have no idea what I'm doing. I barely survived my teenage years, what makes me think I can take care of a bunch of kids?" It had taken a week to admit his fear, and it was something that he'd only be able to confess to his sister since she knew what he'd been through.

"How old are they?"

"Oh, about...I don't know, late teens, maybe? I suppose they might even be able to pass for collage students, I guess." It was mostly a made up guess, going on appearence alone since from the sounds of it the kids had only been up and running for a handful of years. Looks had nothing to do with actual age, he was sure.

"Well, that's not too bad. At least they should be able to mostly take care of themselves." There was pause, and Issac could hear the smile in Annabelle's voice. "I'm happy for you, Issac. I really am. You've come along way from when we were young."

"Hey, I'm only 26, you know. I still _am_ young." He sighed. "Certainly not old enough to be taking care of anyone."

"Oh please, there are people who are have kids at 20, you know. And you know what I mean by young! Back when you were a troubled teen. Now stop trying to make it sound like I'm old at 31."

Issac shrugged. "You said it, not me."

"Hey! You better watch it before I come over there and beat some sense in to you." Annabelle retorted.

"Looking forward to it." Issac said with a grin. Annabelle always did have a way of making him feel better. "But seriously, you should come visist soemtime and met the kids. They seem like a good bunch. Besides, I worry about you being by yourself in England."

"Oh please, I can take care of myself just fine. You just worry too much." Annabelle stated calmly as if it was no big deal. "Next time I get a break from work though, I'll try and come over. It really has been too long since I saw my baby brother."

"Good. And Ann? Thanks. It really did help talking to you. I think I might be able to do this now."

"Of course, you are my favorite brother after all."

"I'm your only brother."

"And that's why you're my favoite! Now isn't it getting pretty late? You should get to bed."

"Oh right, that is a thing." Issac teased. "I'll talk to you later then, Ann. And I do love you."

"Not as much as I do, silly boy.

* * *

Xire


	5. The Bad Dream

_It was dark and rainy, and none of them knew what to do. Kaito was on the verge of shutting down for good from the rain getting inside his damaged parts, and if nothing was done they would lose him._

 _They had been running away from where they had been created and were already over a hundred miles away, but the plan had been to get as far away as possible, but that turned out not to happen when Kaito began to encounter problems from the rain. He had been fine at first, but then he had fallen behind, collapsed to his knees on the ground, holding his injured shoulder._

 _It was from there that they had decided to stop to try and figure things out, and decided on hiding in a nearby alley. While the others talked amungst themselves about what to do, Kaito was reduced to sitting on the ground, leaning against some boxes that were piled up there. The more time they spent without doing anything, however, the worse off Kaito became, Meiko could tell._

 _In the beginning he would still provide occational imput on what they could do, but he had grown rather silent in the last few minutes. He just sat there, unmoving, with his eyes closed. As Meiko watched him, she found herself getting more and more unnerved and afraid of what would happen should they continue to stay idle much longer._

 _"Kaito?" Meiko asked softly as she sat down next to him._

 _He didn't answer right away, and when he did, it wasn't much of an answer. "Hmm?" Was all that she got, and he didn't even move to look at her._

 _"Every...everything is going to be alright, we'll figure something out, don't worry." She said it more for herself, to convince her that in the end something would happen and that Kaito would be fine and this night would become nothing more then a bad dream._

 _"M-Mei-Meiko..." Kaito finally spoke, but it was broken, as if he was losing the ability to speak. "I...I..."_

 _"Don't stain yourself, pretty boy." Meiko told him simply. She leaned against his chest, to see if she could hear the state of his intenal systems. She frowned when what she heard was not a steady hum, but instead it sounded more like chokeing, like his systems were stuggling to remain running._

 _"I-I c-can't..." At that, Meiko, who still had her head on Kaito's chest, heard the sudden and uprut sound of his system shut down._

 _Her eyes widened and she sat up a bit and shook him. "C'mon, c'mon, restart already!" She practically yelled as she continued shaking him. She recieved no response, however, and Kaito remained still and lifeless, with the hand that had been holding onto his shoulder falling to rest on the ground. "No, this can't be happening, start up already!" She called, shaking him harder._

 _When she continued to get no response, she frantically pulled open his shirt and opened the acces panel on his chest. She didn't care if it was still raining, the overhang of they were under in the ally kept the water at bay. She was determined after all to get her first companion to restart._

 _What she saw inside was worse then she had feared. There was water everywhere, without a single dry surface. She reached in gently, looking for something she could use to reboot her favorite boy. There was nothing however, as everything was far too drenched. She was forced to face the reality that she would never talk to Kaito again._

 _"No, no! KAITO!" She cried as she hugged the offline boy._

"Kaito!" Meiko cried as she bolted up into a sitting position on her bed, all of her processes alert and running at a faster pace then normal. She looked around the room, reminding herself that she was in her room at the Professor's place, and it had all simply been the cruel trick of an idle processor playing on her worst fears. Still, she didn't think that she would be able to calm down enough to go back to sleep until she double checked that Kaito really was just fine.

Quickly but silently she left her room and made her way to Kaito's, pushing his door open and peeking in. Sure enough her pretty boy was asleep on his bed, back facing her. She snuck over to him and lowered her head just close enough to him so that she could hear the soft hum of his system running. It was times like this, though, that she was glad that not much would bring him out of sleeping. Like humans, sleep was necessary for them, as it did recharge their battery. For the rest of them though they only needed real sleep about once a week, but since there wasn't much to do at night, most employed the use of a hibernation mode until morning.

One thing that they had found out relatively quickly, however, was the fact that Kaito's battery life paled in comparison, steeming from the water damage he had sustained. They had found that to be safe, it was best that he recharge every night, and it would take all night at that to get fully charged. As such, he didn't wake up from it for much, of which Meiko was glad since she didn't really want to have to explain to him why she was leaned over him, just listening to his system's steady rythm.

It was still early in the morning, and no one would be awake for awhile yet. She looked back at the door, not really wanting to be by herself at the moment, especially since she still had the shaken feeling from her dream. So she pulled up Kaito's blanket just enough to let her slide in next to him, as she decided to stay there until shortly before he'd wake up, so he'd never know she'd been there. She laid her head against his back, letting his steady hum relax her.

It was some hours later when Kaito woke up to his internal alarm, something that he had set to make sure he'd be up at the same time as everyone else, regardless of whether or not his battery was fully charged or not. He sat up and streched, while convincing the rest of his processes that it was time to leave their dormant state. 78% wasn't too bad to start the day out with, but it could've been better if he hadn't stayed up late reading.

He looked over to his left when he heard the sound of movement, and was surprised to find that Meiko was sound asleep next to him on the bed. He blinked a few times and rubbed his eyes to make sure that it wasn't just a trick of his brain trying to shake off the effects of sleep. But sure enough, Meiko really was laying there. "Meiko, wake up." He called, poking her cheek lightly.

"Five more minutes..." She muttered, curling more into his bed. Kaito had to admit that she really did look cute like that, and he almost didn't want to wake her. But he knew that if he didn't, they might end up late for class and he'd never hear the end of it from her.

He poked a few more times. "Meiko, if you don't get up we'll be late for class."

"Huh?" She asked, looked up at him sleepily for a moment, before a look of realization came across her face. "Kaito! What are you doing in my room?" She asked as she sat up.

"I think you have it backwards. This is my room." He told her. "Did anything happen last night?" After all, it wasn't like her to just show up in his room for no reason, and he had to admit that it had him a little worried. Sometimes he wished that there was more that would wake him up from his sleep, esspecially when things like this happened. He was starting to wonder if there would be someway for him to set up a type of alarm that would go off whenever Meiko entered his room, which in turn would let him help her better.

"Right, sorry." Meiko got up from the bed, a bit embarresd at being caught sleeping in his bed. After all, that wasn't part of the plan. She was supposed to be gone _before_ he woke up, not after! She turned to leave, fully intent on not telling him what had happened last night, when she Kaito grab onto her wrist lightly, keeping her leaving.

"Are you alright?" He asked, giving her an almost pleading look that she found hard to refuse. "You know you can tell me anything, right?"

"I know that, don't worry." Meiko turned around to face him, and pulled him into a light hug, to which she could tell he was surprised. "I just had a bit of a hard time sleeping, and decided to come here since that purr of yours could lul anyone to sleep." She teased him.

"Hey...I-I'm not a cat..." She heard him mutter, obviously embaressed.

"Well, you could certainly fool me." She gave him one last squeeze, in reality just really glad that he was alive and functioning. She let him go then, and made to turn to leave. "Now if you don't mind, I don't really want to go to class in my sleep wear."

"Right, you do have a point." Kaito said as he let her arm go. "Just tell me if anything is ever bothering you, ok?"

"Will do, pretty boy." She then left, breathing a sigh of relief once on the other side of the door and on her way back to her room. At least she had distracted him just enough so that he stopped trying to get the real reason as to why she had been sleeping on his bed. Technically she hadn't lied, but she hadn't told him the whole story, either.

Kaito on the other hand remained sitting on his bed for a few minutes longer, wondering exactly what that had been about. Even if she had seemed like she was just teasing, he coulndn't help but wonder if there was some truth in what she had said. If she really had encountered problems sleeping last night, he couldn't help be at a loss as to why. After all, Meiko wasn't exactly the kind of person to really get scared, or so she cetainly made it seem.

He sighed as he finally got up off the bed and headed over to his closet to get dressed for the day. He really would have to look into that alarm to wake him up whenever she came to his room at night.

* * *

-Xire


	6. The Android's Version of Heatstroke

"Professor? Can I stay here until Kaito wakes up?" Meiko asked as she peeked her head in the room.

"Are you sure? It may take awhile for me to get him back to the point where he can." Issac answered as he looked over at her from his seat in front of Kaito. "I still have a lot of work ahead."

"I don't mind. I get restless anywhere else."

"Alright then, go ahead and pull up a chair." Issac said with a nod. "I suppose some company would be nice."

"Thank you, Professor." Meiko grabbed the chair from the desk and set it next to the Professor before sitting down. "How is he?"

Issac sighed. "I'd be lying if I said it's just a simple fix." He ran a hand through his hair in worry. "The mechanism that keeps the inside parts from over heating has stopped working. Personally I think it just looks like a fancy fan."

"Can you get it working again?"

"That's what I'm trying right now. But until I do Kaito has no way of keeping cool by himself." Issac explained.

Meiko frowned. "Stupid pretty boy." She muttered. "So that's why it's so cold in here?"

Issac nodded. "Right. The cooler in here the better, especially if it succeeds in cooling him down. Quite frankly I'm surprised he made it as long as he did, with how hot everything inside is."

"He's a stubborn one, that's for sure. Either that or he just goes into 'emotionless jerk mode." Meiko grumbled, looking down at the unconscious boy. The central access panel located on Kaito's chest was open, and Meiko didn't like what she saw. Everything inside was silent and still, something that unnerved her. She had thought that Kaito was just stuck in sleep mode, but if that were true, shouldn't there still be parts that were active? "Professor..." She began slowly, afraid to find out that her fears were true, "Kaito's not...he's not...not running, is he?"

Issac sighed and paused for a moment, looking over at her with worried eyes. "I'm afraid you're right, Meiko. After hooking him up to my computer, I can tell he's gone into complete and total shutdown. He has absolutely no processes going on at all." He glanced at the laptop he had set up on the chair to his left on the off chance anything had changed. When nothing had, he looked back at Meiko to see how she was taking the news.

"Can you get him running again?" Meiko asked quietly, reaching out to run a hand through Kaito's hair. They'd come to far for her to lose him now.

"Well, there's a chance he'll restart on his own once he cools down enough, but if his fan isn't working it won't be a good idea. Most likely he'd restart only to shutdown again within a few minutes. It would only cause more damage." Issac explained as he turned back to Kaito, inspecting the fan once more. "This fan has certainly seen better days. I'm starting to think that even if I do manage to fix it, something might happen to break it again." He looked over at Meiko, who looked on the verge of tears, still silently playing with the boy's hair. "Are you going to be alright?"

Meiko didn't answer at first, her worry over Kaito threatening to get the best of her. "He was the first, you know." She finally began quietly. "The first person I ever got to talk to, even if he wasn't very good at responding. He annoyed me so much in the beginning, with his apparent lack of being able to sound like he felt anything."

"Were you able to see his face then?"

"No, because we were in separate cells. We shared a wall, though, so even if I couldn't see him, I knew he was always next to me. He was a terrible conversationalist, but just the fact that I wasn't alone anymore was a comfort in itself."

"He seems far from emotionless, though."

"He got better after awhile. I was having a bad day when it happened." Meiko began, remembering the event with a bit of fondness now. "I had finally snapped at him about being so emotionless when a little while later I heard him singing. It was a soft and sweet tune, which allowed me to get the sleep I needed. After that he started getting better at letting me know that he did feel things after all."

"That's a nice story. You two have known each other awhile, haven't you?"

"You could say that. We are still the oldest of us, after all." She gave Issac a small, broken smile. "We've been through alot together." She wad silent for a moment, watching Kaito's still face. "...I don't think I could stand losing him now." Meiko whispered, almost inadibly.

Issac put an arm around Meiko's shoulder and pulled her close. "Don't worry, I'll do my best to get him back up and well. I must admit though that I feel this situation is partly my fault."

"Why? You haven't done anything wrong, Professor." Meiko stated, confused, looking up at him.

Issac shook his head. "But I have. I know that Kaito has a history of problems happening because of the water damage he sustained two years ago. I should've made sure that everything was alright before you kids spent so much time outside in the sun." He put a hand to his forehead, ashamed at himself for putting the boy in such danger. "Even though I knew that, in all honestly, most times I forget you kids aren't human."

Meiko game him genuine smile this time. "It's alright, Professor. None of us would have you any other way. It's because you treat us like people and not some experiment that we like you so much. I'm sure if Kaito were awake he wouldn't blame you either."

"Thanks, Meiko. Would you stay here while I go get some parts from the store?"

"Of course. I'll make sure pretty boy here doesn't move an inch."

"So, did you get in over your head again? I'm guessing that's why you told me to meet you here."

Issac sighed as he put down the small computer fan he'd been looking at when he heard Evan's voice come up behind him. "Of course not, why do you always think that way?"

"Because it's usually true." Evan answered with a grin. "So who's abandoned project are you trying to fix this time?"

"You say that like I do it all the time."

"I've known you since we were kids, Isaac. You've never been able to ignore someone's abandoned project. Now fess up and tell me what the problem is."

Issac didn't answer right away, as he wasn't entirely sure how to explain the problem, without giving away his kid's secret, something he had promised never to tell. Perhaps getting Evan here wasn't such a good idea. Oh well, too late now. "Fine, I'll tell you. I've got a pretty complex system but the fan's broken and it might be past the point of being able to fix it. I've been thinking about getting a replacement."

Evan raised an eyebrow. "Aw c'mon, fans are pretty basic. What do you need me for?"

"Because this one's not basic." Issac pulled out his phone and brought up the picture of Kaito's damaged fan that he had taken for reference. It was just the fan, so he didn't have to worry about Evan seeing the rest of the body.

"Whoa." Evan muttered as he took the phone from Isaac. "Now THAT'S what I call customization! Does look pretty fried though. What happened to it?"

"As far as I know, there was water damage, and then it was left running out in the hot sun." Issac explained, using only the most basic of information.

"Sheesh, talk about irresponsible." Issac knew that Evan didn't mean anything by it, especially since he didn't know the whole story, but it still made Isaac feel bad. Regardless of what Meiko had said, he still believed it to be mostly his fault that Kaito was in this situation.

"If we can't find a suitable replacement, do you think you could make one? Building stuff like this has always been more of your area."

"Possibly, although I'd need the old one to be able to study it."

"That could be a little more difficult."

"I don't see why. All you have to do is pull it out like any other machine."

Issac couldn't help but wince at the thought. He'd done patch jobs and minor repairs to Kaito before, but he'd never removed anything before. To him removing something from a living being sounded painful. "Are you sure you can't just use the picture?"

"Pretty sure." Evan stated as he handed back the phone. "A picture is only one dimension. I need to be able to see the whole thing in 360 and possibly even deconstruct it."

Issac sighed, resigned. "Alright, say I do get it to you. How long would it take?"

Evan thought for a moment. "About a week, I'd have to say."

"A week, are you sure?" Issac asked with a frown. The thought of Kaito being out that long pained him.

"These things take time, you know. If it was anyone else, I'd give a longer estimate. But since you're my friend, I'll rush it. You actually seem attached to this one, you know?"

Issac shrugged. "Well, it had to happen eventually, right?"

"Ya, I suppose." Evan slung an arm around Issac's shoulder. "You're just lucky I was in town visiting my shop in this country."

"If not I might've tried to convince you to come over. I would've even paid you're airfare."

"Sheesh, you are worried. Alright, c'mon, let's go get that part."

The next week was spent impatiently waiting for Evans to finish with the new fan. During that time Issac would ocationally check on Kaito to make sure that nothing had changed. When Evan finally did come, Issac was with Kaito, along with Meiko. "Oh Issac guess what I-!'' Evan began as he burst into the room, although he stopped mid-sentence, surprised by what he saw. Inside the room laying on the bed was Kaito, completly still and motionless. That wasn't the strange thing though; no, that was in the fact that the boy's chest was open, revealing an assortment of machinery inside. "Issac-what-how!" Evan stuttered, brain trying and failing to catch up with what he was seeing.

Issac and Meiko shared a brief surprised look before Issac told her to shut the door. "Now this is why we knock, Evan," Issac finally said with an exasperated look. "If you promise not to tell anyone I'll let you know what's going on."

Evan nodded. "I promise, don't worry. You know I'm not the type to tell other's secrets."

"Alright then come over here and I'll tell you."

Evan did as he was told and walked over to them so that he was standing in front of Kaito. "Issac... Isn't he one of those kids you took in?''

''He is, and is the reason I wanted you to hurry with that fan."

"But doesn't this make him along the line of an A.I.?" Evan paused as a thought hit him. "Wait, so you actually managed to create an A.I.?!"

Issac shook his head ''No, I just found them and took them in. Before you ask, yes, they are all like Kaito here, just in better condition."

"So when you were talking about how the fan was damaged by water and then run all day in the hot sun..."

"Yes, I was talking about Kaito. Now, the water damage happened two years ago, when I found him and the rest of the kids. It was raining, and Kaito's shoulder had been cut open, which is how the water got in. The same day I had you meet me at the part store was the day he shutdown because he overheated." Issac explained.

"Well, at least it makes sense now why you seemed so unusually attached. Now that I'm a little bit more over the surprise, I think it's actually pretty cool." Evan reached into his bag and pulled out the new fan. "Well here you go, hope it makes him feel better. Seems like a nice guy, if a little akward at times."

"You mean an idiot." Meiko grumbled. She hadn't been paying much attention to the conversation, as she wasn't very worried about Evan knowing about them. The Proffesor trusted him, and Miku had said that he was a good person before when he had visited the house. Those two things were enough for her. At the moment she was more worried about Kaito. "Can't you talk to him later Professor?"

"Right, of course Meiko. Kaito's waited long enough, for this."

It took a little bit of time, but the new fan was finally installed.

"Will Kaito be alright now?" Meiko asked, holding onto one of the boy's hands.

"He should be, so long as there isn't any other damage from when he shutdown. Although I'm pretty sure that was just a defense mechanism to prevent serious damage." Issac turned to his computer, to which Kaito was still hooked up to. "Well, here goes nothing..." He said as he entered the command prompt.

 **RESTART PROGRAM? Y/N**

 **YES**

They waited with baited breath for something to happen, a few moments feeling like an eternity. But then, just as worry began to sink in, the soft sound of a fan starting reached their ears. "Excellent! He's starting up." Issac exclaimed with a smile, as he watched different processes begin on the laptop screen.

It took a few minutes as there was a lot to load, but slowly Kaito's eyes opened. But that was all he did, lay there and stare at the ceiling with a blank expression. "Kaito...?" Meiko called to him softly. His expression worried her, she hadn't seen him this blank since the first time she had seen him briefly, when their creator had been bringing Kaito to his cell.

Kaito slowly looked over at her with that same blank expression, but didn't say anything. "Give him a few more minutes, I'm pretty sure everything isn't loaded yet." Issac stated calmly when Meiko had looked over at him with a worried look.

"You better remember me, stupid pretty boy." Meiko muttered as she half glared at Kaito.

There was a pause before Kaito spoke in a slow, soft voice. "You know...I still don't understand...why you call me...that..." With that his eyes closed, and he stopped moving.

"Professor!"

"Don't worry, he's just gone to sleep. It's not too surprising, overheating before eventually being forced to shutdown must've drained his battery quite a bit." Isaac stood up and streched, before looking over at Meiko. "I'm pretty sure he'll be fine once he gets some sleep. Meanwhile," He looked over at Evan, "you and I should probably have a talk. Feel free to stay here until Kaito wakes up, Meiko."

It was with only a little bit of confusion that Kaito woke up the next morning, wondering how he had gotten from the floor to the bed. After a moment of inspection, he discovered that he was currently attached to the Professor's laptop. That must mean that something had happened, even if he wasn't sure what yet. Looking at his internal clock to see just how long had passed, he was surprised to find that it was a whole week later then he remembered. "How did that happen...?" He wondered out loud, and tried to put a hand to his head, but discovered that something had a hold of it. Looking over he was surprised to find Meiko asleep next to him, hugging his arm. He reached over with his other hand and shook her a little. "Meiko, wake up."

"Five more minutes..." Meiko grumbled sleepily, hugging his arm tighter.

Kaito shook her again, harder this time. "C'mon Meiko, wake up."

"Nnn?" She looked up at him sleepily.

"C-could you let go of my arm?" Kaito asked, realizing exactly where his arm was pulled up against and not entirely sure what to think about it.

"Huh? Ah!" It took her a moment, but when Meiko did realize what he meant, she let go of his arm quickly enough that she managed to fall off the bed. "Ow..."

"Are you alright?" Kaito asked, sitting up slowly to make sure he didn't pull out any of the cords that were attached to him.

"Me? What about you pretty boy? You're the one that almost died." Meiko grumbled as she stood and brushed her clothes off.

"Really? I don't remember that. Was I sleep that long?"

"No, you shut down completely, you big idiot! I'm going to go tell the Professor your awake." With that she stormed out of the room without another word, leaving a stunned and confused Kaito behind.

"I think Meiko's mad at me." Kaito said after the Professor had finished his check to make sure Kaito's system was running smoothly and had removed the cords that had been attached to him.

"Why do you say that?"

"Because she yelled at me before she left to get you and hasn't come back." Kaito replied with a frown.

"I find that funny, because through the whole thing she refused to leave your side. I think she just doesn't want to admit how worried she was."

"But why?" Kaito sighed. "Even after all this time I still don't understand her."

Issac laughed and clapped a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Don't worry about that. There isn't a man in the world who can truthfully claim to understand women."

Kaito nodded. "I guess that's good to know. If it's alright with you Proffesor, I think I'll go find her and apologize for scaring her."

"Good idea. You seem to be doing fine, just take it easy for a few days to make sure."

Once Kaito had dressed he headed downstairs intent on joining Meiko on the front porch since that was where the Professor had said he'd seen her heading. He decided to take a quick detour to the kitchen however, deciding that now would be as good a time as any for the surprise he'd been keeping.

Just as the Professor had said, Meiko was indeed sitting on the front porch. Taking a deep breath to calm himself, and trying not to think of all the possible worse case senaros, he walked out and took a seat next to her. A moment of silence passed before Kaito decided to break the silence. "Want some ice cream?" He asked, holding out a small single serve container of said treat.

Meiko looked over at him slowly, and gave him a look. "You don't share ice cream." She stated in a matter of fact tone. It was obvious that she was still mad at him.

"I do when I think you'll like it and I'm sorry." Kaito replied honestly.

Meiko watched him for a moment longer before snatching the offered ice cream. She didn't speak again until after she had taken a bite of the ice cream. "Huh, this is actually pretty good. What flavor is it?"

Kaito smiled, having taken a bite of his ice cream as well. "It's saké. I thought we could try it together."

"Hmm." Was all he got for a response, but she continued to eat it, so Kaito took that as some degree of success.

After a few minutes of eating in silence, Kaito decided to speak up. "I really am sorry about what happened, Mei." He apologized sincerely, looking down at his now empty container of ice cream. He really didn't like the thought of Meiko being mad at him. If it came down to it, he'd be willing to give up ice cream if it got her to not be mad anymore. It would be hard, but Meiko mattered far more.

"Just don't do it again, stupid pretty boy." Meiko suddenly said, punching Kaito in the shoulder. "Honestly, how can anyone stay mad at you when you have that look on your face?"

"What look?" Kaito asked as he rubbed his shoulder. He had almost forgotten how hard her punches were. This was certainly a good reminder.

"The 'lost little puppy who isn't allowed to have any more ice cream' look."

"L-lost little puppy? Why a puppy?"

Meiko shrugged. "Because dogs are better suited to the pretty boy look. More importantly, you wouldn't happen to have any more of this saké ice cream, would you?" She asked as she held up her own empty container.

"Of course!" Kaito replied with a bright smile, grabbing her hand and pulling her inside and towards the kitchen.

Meiko smiled lightly as she was pulled toward the kitchen and when Kaito wasn't watching. She really did like it best when he was smiling and happy. In reality she hadn't really been very mad anymore (more like just mildly annoyed) when Kaito had come to join her on the porch. She could've said so, but she decided that she had to give him some sort of punishment for what he'd put her through. Besides, it was fun watching him squerm once in awhile.

Kaito had to admit that his little idea to get back into Meiko's good side had gone better then he had expected. Perhaps he should try things like this more often...?

* * *

-Xire


End file.
